happy hallow's weeen!

so, we started the celebration tonight. we carved our pumpkins and then tara made tamari roasted pumpkin seeds. umm...DELICIOUS! they were really good and i would have eaten a ton more, but my jaw was tired. that's sad.

i ate a variety of items today. i've been eating burritos stuffed with the pepper soup i had in the freezer. i guess it's not really soup if it is thick enough to put in a burrito...but you get the idea. unfortunately, everytime i eat them i am starving and don't remember to take a picture. anyway, here are some more pictures of fooddddd from today.
above is the squash from my dad's garden. i just put salt, pepper, and olive oil on it. oh, and i made the other half with nutmeg, cinnamon, and brown sugar. both were pretty decent, but i am more a fan of the salt and pepper combo.
i desperately wish that i had enough time to jazz up my photos, but with class, and everything else it just isn't an option. maybe over x-mas break i'll start that...hmm...i have high hopes!

yummies

i have completed my applications for grad school [YAY!]. but i have to finish getting recommendations. blahhh.

this week has been quite a fabulous food time for me. however, i have been insanely busy.

sunday, i did not makes anything exciting and ended up eating the same thing [but different flavors] for two of my meals.
i made cupcakes b/c two of my friends were in town. her birthday was earlier last week. we didn't end up eating them so i have been trying to finish them off one by one. i used the lemon gem cupcake recipe from vegan with a vegeance but it's not as delicious as when i made them for my birthday.

FALAFEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so, i attempted to make falafel over the summer. and i was surprised with how it turned out. i didn't mind eating it. so. the true test was whether the roommates would like it as well. wednesday, i excitedly prepared the ingredients. i use a can of hummus from amko [asian grocery in champaign, il]. it has blended chickpeas and tahini, so i just needed to add some fresh lemon and lime juice and garlic.

after letting it set in the fridge for a few hours, i put in a giant bit of flour, roll them into balls, roll them in MORE flour, and fry them.

i put them in tomato basil wraps from mission...rolled them up with diced tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, and [chopped] lettuce.

i liked it. and i'm pretty sure that my roommates did too b/c we ended up eating the entire plate.

can you tell how proud i am of my creation???

random!

this is a totally random post of foods from this week...when aren't my posts random though...really. also, i just wrote an article about veganism for the environmental magazine that i am president/editor for:::check it out! and PLEASE check out our website too!

and now the foooood

first up is this tofu, bean, rice noodle stir fry in BBQ sauce. not exciting. and i ended up scraping out the tofu b/c i'm so TIRED of the way i cook it.


next, a salad using up the rest of the ingredients from falafel night...i used lemon&&lime juice and olive oil for dressing w. oregano seasoning.

and lastly, this is a variation of bruschetta, i [lazily] toasted the bread, put sliced pickles, tomatoes, and onion on it. oregano on top and olive oil drizzled on top. a lot more delicious than you might imagine. i promise.
i had tofu pad thai for lunch today. i ate at the YMCA here on campus. the above mentioned magazine is a YMCA program and as president, i was invited to sit at the head table for an environmental lecture today. they provided lunch for us from the thai eatery located in the Y. i was impressed with the food, but sadly no pictures. i'm going to have to eat there during the week sometime.

and my weekend of food looked a little like this:::

while it may look like chili, it is actually stuffed pepper soup...but it does taste like chili. and those are breadsticks. they are frozen garlic ones and i just put olive oil and garlic powder and a bit of salt on them. they are HEAVENLY. i ate 6 of them throughout the day on saturday.

i need to start finishing what i have in the freezer before making new things. but, cooking for one sucks since i always have leftovers. i end up eating the same thing for 3 days in a row--at least i kind of like doing that sometimes.

i decided to grill out on sunday. how exciting! i was scared of the fire actually and would never have gotten it started without my roommate's help. i only like grilling out with someone else. doing it by yourself is no fun.


i also made some more BBQ tofu stir fry. i'm sick of stir fried tofu for a long while.

and! i splurged at the store and bought some ice cream. i don't really like spending money on pretend vegan foods because i like making my own version of it better than trying to imitate food i used to eat. but, since my test was today, my wonderful mom told me to get it. :D i love her.

today, i made BBQ tofu stir fry. i was originally going to bake the tofu, but i had the oven up too high and the fire alarm went off....needless to say my roommate was annoyed. i think this is the 2nd time in 2 weeks that the alarm has gone off while i am cooking. i couldn't get a good picture of it, but oh well.

so, i just ended up putting it in the stir fry with onions and mushrooms. not very exciting but it smelled great and tasted pretty good. i'm not really a fan of tofu unless it is baked. i like when it has more of a rubbery texture so i don't fry it very often. maybe i'm not frying it long enough though. who knows. i'm impatient.

also, i'm looking into purhcasing a food process. i've heard that kitchenaid is quieter, but cusine art is more durable and allows for more blade options...anyone have any suggestions???? i could really use them.

these are all the result of studying....those peanuts were stress food...weird? kinda.

hating every aspect of life at the moment

so, this week has been busy and disappointing. it has me questioning my decision to continue on in school. blahhh...

tara introduced me to miso soup.we had a little adventure the other evening--went to the costume shop and then stopped at amko on the way home. i'm going to be eating this soooooooooo often now. it's super delicious. i can't believe i've never tried it before.


the above (and below) sushi is from last night. we had cucumber and avocado. i really enjoyed the combination of wasabi and cucumber. muy delicioso!

taco, taco, taco, taco

so, there are several other activities i should most definitely be engaging in, but i can't help but post. i really would love a diet dr. pepper mega chill from the gas station right now. i am seriously craving it sooooooo bad. but i need to study for my english midterm tomorrow and my rehab quiz. and i have a meeting for the green observer environmental magazine tonight. overwhelmed, but nothing compared to the rest of the this week.

a few disappointments of the weekend::i found out chili's black bean burgers have eggs or something in them so that they aren't vegan...BOO ON YOU CHILI's. especially since they took away the most delicious southwest vegetable soup on this planet. DOUBLE BOO ON YOU CHILI'S. i'm actually pretty annoyed because my mom and i would go there as something special just the two of us.

also unfortunately, i have been eating the same foods repeatedly for the past few days. this is an attempt to save time and energies. so, here's what we have...

tacos!>>> includes refried beans, black olives, garden tomatoes, onion, and a few traces of green bell pepper
a bloody mary>>> i needed help studying for my english midterm so i had a bloody mary with my lunch yesterday--all you need for a great sunday.
pancakes && potatoes>>>they don't look very pretty, but they are great. the potatoes remind me of the way my mom makes them so i was happy. i used olive oil, white wine vinegar, pepper, onion powder, and seasoning salt.


okay, back to studying. have a great day!